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Our
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". arrangements to hold and return those screened out would therefore need to be humane and in compliance with this Article.
7.
Whether or not we could implement such measures would
of course depend on Vietnamese willingness to operate them in
particular, whether we could persuade them to accept back large
numbers of returnees on a regular basis. Hong Kong have said
that it would be essential to ask the Vietnamese to prepare new large scale reception facilities, and have suggested that we might reconsider our earmarking of £5m for the Philippine Reception Centre and offer some of this to the Vietnamese towards such facilities. My own view is that the Vietnamese would only be persuaded to go down this route if we could offer a hefty price in terms of aid, and possibly a political price as well. In this context, there might be a case for a visit by the
Secretary of State to Hanoi.
OTHER MEASURES
8. We are considering what lessons might be drawn from our arrangements to repatriate those who cross from China. The difficulty is that those arrangements reflect the fact of the close land border and our agreements with the Chinese.
If Hong Kong had a land border with Vietnam, we would probably be ina very different situation now.
9.
We will continue to press the Vietnamese to take what measures they can to deter departures. But it is difficult to press for more than tougher action against racketeers. We would be open to severe criticism if we were to ask the Vietnamese, eg, to prosecute all those caught trying to leave without official permission.
10. We have also considered the idea of establishing a holding
centre or centres in South China. This would involve detention
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